OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
As MSNBC and CNN have lost viewers since Election Day, Fox News dominated November, recording one of its most-watched months in network history.
Along with weeks of important news about Trump’s Cabinet appointments, November saw the historic presidential election between President-elect Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Americans looked to Fox News Channel for information and commentary at this time, whereas CNN and MSNBC have had trouble sustaining viewership after Trump’s resounding win. At the end of the month, Fox News had a 62% viewer share on cable news.
No other cable network even exceeded the one-million threshold, but Fox News averaged almost two million total day viewers over the month. With an average viewership of 741,000, ESPN came in second. It was the second-best November in Fox News’ history and the sixth-most-watched month.
For the 45th consecutive month, Fox News topped the cable news rankings for primetime and whole day in terms of viewers and the key demographic in November.
“The Five,” which featured Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, Jeanine Pirro, and rotating co-hosts Harold Ford Jr. and Jessica Tarlov, led all cable news for the month with an average of 4.4 million people overall and 510,000 in the key demo.
“Gutfeld!” had its greatest month since debut, and “The Ingraham Angle,” “Jesse Watters Primetime,” and “Hannity” all topped their timeslots.
“Outnumbered,” “America Reports with John Roberts and Sandra Smith,” “FOX News @ Night,” “America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino,” “The Faulkner Focus,” “Special Report with Bret Baier,” “FOX & Friends FIRST,” “FOX & Friends,” and “Your World with Neil Cavuto” all had outstanding months to help Fox News dominate the cable news market.
Despite the historic election, the liberal networks were unable to outdraw Fox News combined, with MSNBC averaging 720,000 total day viewers and CNN settling for 482,000, Fox News noted.
Similar things happened during primetime when Fox News Channel crushed all rivals with an average of an incredible 3.2 million viewers.
With an average of two million viewers between 8 and 11 p.m. ET, ESPN came in second. CNN averaged 725,000 and MSNBC averaged 1.1 million, both of which fell short of Fox News combined in that area.
With an average of 282,000 daily viewers, Fox News outperformed cable news in the advertiser-coveted 25–54 age group, while CNN and MSNBC only managed 108,000 and 91,000 viewers, respectively.
In the bill-paying demo, Fox News averaged 476,000 viewers during primetime, while CNN and MSNBC had 196,000 and 161,000 viewers, respectively.
With almost 13.6 million viewers and 4.4 million in the key demographic, FOX News Media’s primetime coverage of election night across Fox News Channel, FOX Network, FOX Business Network (FBN), and Fox News Digital led all television networks on election day.
Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum co-anchored Fox News’ “Democracy 2024” nighttime coverage, which averaged 3.3 million viewers in the key demographic and nearly 10.8 million people overall. With an average of over eight million people and 1.4 million in the demo, Fox News’ coverage of Harris’ concession speech was the most-watched television program the next day.
“Sunday Morning Futures” won the Sunday title with an average of 1.9 million viewers, while “Life, Liberty & Levin,” which averaged 1.8 million people, was the top program on Saturdays.
The liberal networks have suffered especially after Election Day, even though Fox News Channel outperformed CNN and MSNBC combined for the entire month.
Since Harris’ loss, MSNBC has seen a 42% decline in overall viewers, a 52% decline in primetime, and a startling 57% decline in its primetime audience among the key demographic. Over the same period, CNN has lost 39% of its primetime viewers and 30% of its overall viewership.
With a 69% viewership since Election Day, Fox News commands a dominant 73% of cable news viewers throughout primetime. Fox News has also surpassed ABC, CBS, NBC, and every other cable network since Election Night.
Since Election Day, several MSNBC programs have experienced their lowest ratings ever, including “Jose-Diaz Balart Reports,” “The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle,” “Ana Cabrera Reports,” “Chris Jansing Reports,” “Katy Tur Reports,” and “The Reidout.”
The problems with MSNBC go far beyond its continuous inability to attract viewers.
After years of claiming that Trump was a “fascist” and a general threat to democracy, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski revealed they had a face-to-face meeting with him shortly after the election, which infuriated leftist viewers and coworkers alike.
